Nonfreezing fire extingusher



sept.` 27,1927.4 Y f ,1.3343363 v A. c. BADGER NNFREEZING FIREEXT:[NGUISHERV l lFiled June 21, 1921 25mm-snm 2 I an m www Q B mgm www@shoulders whereby it may be held back by the cage or other retainer,hereinafter described, when inverted. And it shouldbe made of a materialsuch as glass, porcelain,

lead and so forth which `is immune from `atfmV purpose being here shownas consisting of an indented and offset zone in the side walls of thecontainer. An important feature of the invention is that in the dry saltcharge "there are provided openings and channels adapted to permitentrance of the acid into `theint'erior of the mass ofV salt withpossibility of immediate `contact be. `tween the acid and salt at alarge number;

of points of entrance at once. Hence inthe interior of `the saltkreceiving space thereis placed an interior partition`22 so made as topermit free passage of liquid through it and hold back a packed massopowder or granular material. The partition is here shown as made of wiremesh but it may also be made of perforated sheet metal or of any otherequivalent construction. It is ldisposed in an approximately star-shapedoutline as viewed endwise or in cross section (note Fig- `ure 3) withinterior open spaces and isV placed so that `such Vopen spaces registerwith openings 23 in the late 21. l Thus when the salt charge is pac edinto the spaces of the holder surrounding this stareshaped partition,the arms of the partition leave" deep and numerous communicating openspaces which extendthrough the open plate 21. 4The saltmay exist in the`form of a more or less fine powder'or `grains or pelletsf or lumps ofany size.` Arib 21a rising from the plate and conforming tothe requiredoutline of the partition 22 serves to locatethe partition and may alsoserve as ananchor-l ageto `which the-partition may be secured bysoldering or otherwise. f

In order to provide urtherpoints of entrance :for the acid to the salt,the mass of the latter may be additionally `cut `into by indentationsfrom the yperiphery. of the charge, as shown in Figure 5, such indenta`tions `beingestablished by the offsets 201 extending inwardly from anouter wall`200`o woven wire' fabric, asshown in Figure 5. In this casethe plate has additional slits or openings 231 registering With thespaces de-l inedby the indentations 201.

To the underside of the plate 21 there is connect-ed by discontinuousribs or bosses 24a, a flange 24 or a series of arms 7internally threadedtohold a cage25 which embraces the neclrofI the acid bottle 19` andconfines and guides a stopper 26. The term cage is used here with ageneric significance to include any structure7 whether it has continuousVor discontinuous walls or consists of a series of `separated armamwhichis so formed and placed as to guide the stopper. Another function .oftheycage is to prevent the bottle from following the stopper when the extinguisher is overturned, wherefore the cage extends toward theshoulders of the bottle (that is,` the partwhere the body of the bot`tle widens from `the neck) and terminates at a less distance from-saidshoulders than` thedistance through which the stopperis permitted to`move upon overturning. Thestop per maybe made of lead, porcelain orany.

other material which is unaffected by the acid and has weight enough tocover the mouthof the bottle so as to preventslopping of its contentswhen the extinguisher is moved from place to place, 4and to fall awayfrom the bottle and leave its mouth open when turned upside down.Although the holder 15`is in themain imperviousl in order topreventaccess of the liquid contents of the extinguisherV to the .acid saltcharge, it hasopenin s 27 suitably arranged to permit escape of tiegasgener` ated by the mingling of the reagents. These openings may bearranged in any part of the holder but are preferably nearthe topthereof, and preferably,7also, tubes 28 extend from said openings besidevthe outer walls of the holder to ensure exclusion `ofthe externalliquid and toaid in the flow of the gas therefrom when the extinguisheris put to use.

When the extinguisher is inverted in the intended manner of use forextinguishing a fire, the stopper falls away from the mouth of thebottle but is arrested by the ribs or y bosses 24j11 so that it doesnot" close the openings through the plate 21. The acid pours from thebottle and in falling passes around the stopper through whatever`openings may be'left in the sides of the cage and so Von through theslots 23,201 (inthe case where the latter slotsare provided) into theopen llo spaces within the dry salt charge. Being i thus allowed to actupon a! large proportion of the salt contents at once, the reaction ofthe acid with the salt instantly generates large volumes of gas whichescape through the openings 27 and rise through the liquid to-thebottomof` the extinguisher, applying heavy pressure to the liquidand` impregnating it with carbonio acid gas. y I have found in practicethat a pressure great enough to throw a stream from the nozzle Withwhich the extinguisher' is equipped to a distance of forty to iiftyfeetis generated without appreciably loss of time, and that substantiallythesame pressure is maintained by continuous evolution of gas until theliquid charge i is exhausted.

I have not intended by anything in the foregoing specification 'to limitmy protection with respect to they chemical reagents and fireextinguishing liquid which may be used in an extinguisher embodying thisinvention. Any non-inflammable liquid or mixture of liquids which willnot freeze in winter temperatures may be used, whether such liquid iswater modified by admixture of a compound soluble therein which lowersits freezing point, or an entirely. different compound than water; andfor chemical reagents I may use bi-carbonate of soda as the dry salt andsulphuricacid, or any other reagents which are capable upon mixing ofgenerating an inert gas, provided that the liquid reagent is anon-freezing liquid.

Figure 2 shows an alternative form of the invention which is essentiallylike that already described, but differs in that, instead of a singleholder like the holder containing both reagents there is provided anabbreviated holder 29 which contains the dry reagent package. the guide30 for the bottle stopper and the holder 31 for the acid bottle Vbeingseparably attached to said holder 29. The stopper guide 30 issubstantially a tube which is screwed to a flange 32 attached to thebottom of the holder 29 and the bottle holder is substantially a. cupscrewed to the stopper guide. Vide enough spaces are left between thesides of the stopper guide and the stopper and through the bottom of theholder 29 to permit free flow of the liquid reagent in the bottle 19when the extinguisher is turned upside down.

I do not confine my protection to the combination or use of a cage orotherl external guide for the stopper, but include also any constructionin which the stopper has its own guide. Such a construction is shown inFigure 6 where the stopper 261 has a stem 262 extending through themouth of the bottle and being long enough to serve asa guide for thewhole movement' of the stopper. And in this arrangement the result ofarresting the stopper is performed by ribs 263 on what is normally thetop side of the stopper, that is, the side vtoward the salt charge; suchribs coming in contact with the bottom of the plate and being equivalentin their function to the ribs or bosses 24a. A separate bottle retainer34 which may be loosely placed in the holder is appropriately formed tobear on the plate 24 or an adjacent part of the holder and to obstructthe shoulders of the bottle. This retainer may he made of sheet metal orof anv other material in any form suitable for the purpose.

The term bottle is used in this specication with a broad significance toinclude any liquid container capable of being covered with a stopper.

l/Vhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A fire extinguisher comprising a body adapted to contain a fireextinguishing liquid, a holder mounted in the upper part of said bodyforming an inner compartment substantially closed against inflow of thesaid iire extinguishing liquid when the extinguisher is in its normalposition, said inner compartment having an outlet through which gas mayreadily flow, abottle for a liquid reagent contained in the lower partof said compartment, a package of a compiemental reagent in dry granularcondition, adapted t-o coact with the liquid reagent to generate gasconfined in the upper part of said compartment, and perforated wallsarranged within the mass of said granular reagent in a form providingopen channels through which the liquid from said b ottle may pass, uponoverturning of the vextinguisher, into contact with a large proportionat once of said mass.

2. A'chemical .tire extinguisher comprising an outer shell, an innershell or holder mounted therein and defining an interior chamberl havingrestricted communication with the surrounding space in a'mannersubstantially preventing inflow of liquid, a container for a ychemicalreagent having permeablewalls arranged with deep reentrant anglesmounted in the upper part of said chamber, and a bottle for a liquidchemical reagent mounted in the lower part of said chamber. n

3. A chemical fire extinguisher comprising an outer shell, an innershell mounted there# in and defining ari-interior chamber havingrestricted communication with the surrounding'space in a Y ing inflow ofliquid, a container for a chemicalreagent having permeable wallsarranged with deep reentrant angles mounted in the upper part of saidchamber, a bottle fora liquid chemical reagent mounted` in the lowerpart ofsaid chamber, the stopper for said bottle normally resting on themouth thereof, and a guide for the stopper secured y within said chamberand arranged to prevent substantial dislodgment of the bottle when theextinguisher is overturned.

4. A fire extinguisher comprising a shell, an interior container havingan acid receptacle in its lower part, a plate supported in saidcontainer above said receptacle and hav-` ing openings through it, andinterior walls of liquid-permeable material extending away from saidplate and arranged to form compartments for reception of a granularreagent between and in alternation with open spaces into which liquidmay flow from said acid receptacle.

'In Vtestimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

manner substantially preventllt) ARTHUR c. BADGER;

